DTaP Drop-off Quality Improvement Project

The Wilson County Quality Improvement (QI) team identified the drop-off in DTaP (Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis) vaccination rates as a problem that the health department needed to address. They utilized Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles to determine the best way to address this issue. A PDSA cycle involves developing a plan to test the change, carrying out the test, observing and learning from the consequences, and determining what modifications should be made to the test. Interventions helped increase the immunization rates for the county, and included a staff checklist to help remind staff of the following actions: consistently remind parents of their child's next appointment, record the appointment for the client and staff, provide appropriate incentives, and give parent education.

The goal of this program was to increase full DTaP series vaccination in Wilson County, Kansas.

Immunization completion rates increased from 70% to 82% after implementation.

At the beginning of the project the 4:3:1:3:3:1:3 series (complete vaccine series for two year old children) completion rate was at 70 percent. After implementing the checklist, the series coverage rate increased to 82 percent. This project has led to the development of a QI plan, which will be implemented agency-wide.